It is tough NOW. So how are we coping

pagangirl

Frugalista wrote: »

Hmmm! :think: And where have I seen your signature before pagangirl?

:eek:Oops ! - sorry hunny - saw it in a shop yesterday and thought it was brilliant - well it is brilliant ! will go change it a s a p.

Frugalista

No problem - I think I like your new one better anyway !

ceridwen

...DUH...I'm now trying to remember what pagangirl's old signature was. The "live long/laugh often/love much" - I very vaguely think might have originated with the Dalai Lama???? might be wrong on that.....

chevalier

On the note of preparedness I found these

http://www.expertverdict.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product1_20051__21862_11051

which I thought might be very helpful in a powercut for those with young children, ie didn't want to use candles

regards
chev

anguk

ceridwen wrote: »

...DUH...I'm now trying to remember what pagangirl's old signature was. The "live long/laugh often/love much" - I very vaguely think might have originated with the Dalai Lama???? might be wrong on that.....

I thought it was something to do with the Dalai Lama or Robert Louis Stevenson but apparently not, it's a line from a poem called Success by Bessie Anderson Stanley.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Anderson_Stanley

Anyway no matter who wrote it, it's a good mantra to live by.

chevalier

pagangirl wrote: »

Chevalier - love your signature, it's brilliant !

[Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, Satan shudders & says...
"Oh C**P.......she's awake!! "]

i don't know where it came from but the quote makes me smile, even when i don't often live up to it
chev

Austin_Allegro

I've been reading an excellent book called 'A World To Build: Austerity Britain 1945-48' by David Kynaston.

I knew things were bad during that period but this has opened my eyes to just how bad and made me realise just how laughable our current problems are in comparison.

Eg, rationing and shortages were much worse after the war than during it, because the liberated countries of Europe had to be helped as well.

Nearly all food was rationed, including bread and potatoes, and shopping involved long queues. There were rolling powercuts for several hours a day and coal (the main source of heating fuel) was so difficult to get that fights broke out on slag heaps as people foraged for loose coal.

Petrol for private use was totally unobtainable.

Clothes were in short supply, for example a man's suit (in the days when all you had to wear was your one 'good suit') could take up to 9 months to be made because tailors were restricted in how much they could produce.

There were severe housing shortages due to bomb damage, and high unemployment due to demobbed servicemen looking for work.

Now, I know this was a long time ago, but I think it's important to get things in perspective and realise that although things are tough now, this is very much a relative condition. People coped then and they will cope now...

sb44

I put this recipe in the microwave spongecake thread a while ago and forgot all about it.

Dug the recipe out tonight and made it again, I feel stuffed now and I only had a quarter of it!

It won't cost you the earth to make and it is great if you are in need of a quick sweet fix (you know what I mean ladies).

You only need the smallest amounts of ingredients so you may already have them in your store cupboard.

1 egg
sugar
self raising flour
butter/marg
cocoa powder
digital scales

Now there is a reason that I haven't put the measurements on.

Ok, this is how easy it is but you may be better off using digital scales as you will be using really small amounts to make one pudding which is big enough for two to four people.

Take one egg and weigh it, unbroken in the shell, remember, don't break it just stick the egg on the scales and weigh it.

I used a medium egg which weighed 55 grams.

I use two separate cereal bowls to mix my ingredients in, dry in one, wet in the other.

You need to have a mix of flour/cocoa powder to equal the weight of the egg, so I would use 45g of flour and 10g of cocoa powder. Add 55g of sugar (normal granulated) and mix all of these dry ingredients together.

Put 55g of butter/marg in the other cereal bowl and melt in the microwave. Don't have it too hot, just so that it has melted gently and then crack the egg into this and whisk with a fork.

Add the egg mixture to the dry and just fold in, it doesn't matter if it is lumpy as long as it is mixed in, it should resemble lumpy baby food!

Cover loosely with clingfilm and cook on high until springy to the touch.

I have a 900watt oven and cook it for two and a half minutes on high.

If your oven isn't as powerful you may need to cook it for 3 to 4 minuets but best to try for less minutes and increase the time accordingly.

Just slide a knife around the cake and turn out upside down on a plate to divide.

I made up a packet of Tesco instant custard, think it was 9p and you just add water so no need to use any milk.

The cake comes to the top of an average sized cereal bowl and was enough for 4 of us with custard as it is quite filling.

Give it a go and see what you think.



PS

This comes out a bit like the Heinz steamed puddings you used to cook in a tin.

andan

I have found things improving at the moment for me, my business is dependent on people wanting my service and people seem to be spending more now and having more regular treatments. I'm wondering if people are beginning to get a bit fed up of heairng about the recession and may not be as hard hit as they first thought

Still it must be very worrying for those who have been badly affected.

mumoftwo

We are doing ok at the moment too, DH gets told week by week whether he is on 4 days or work the whole week. Watching the secret Millionaire this past Sunday made me even more aware that there are families who can't even feed their families and rely on a charity to give them a food parcel, scary stuff. I count my blessings and am glad that we are not in debt (apart from mortgage), have a bit of food storage and some savings just in case...